Free Web NovelChapter 150: Chapter 140: The Choice of the Strong and the Weak
Liu Yuqiang stared at the black hand clutching his neck, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He knew Guan Tong wasn’t joking. If he didn’t say anything, he would definitely die here.
’Die here?’
Liu Yuqiang had never been one to admit defeat. This was proven from the very first rule, when he chose to sacrifice his secretary’s life for his own chance at survival.
But as time went on, especially after arriving at this base, he increasingly felt that living like this... wasn’t much fun.
Forty-nine rules. They were just over a sixth of the way through, and the world had already become this hellscape. After a few more rules—or when they were all over—would humanity even still exist?
Five seconds passed in a flash. Liu Yuqiang’s entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit seemed to wither away. He sighed and said, "Go ahead. I have nothing to say."
Guan Tong was a little surprised. He had thought that even if Liu Yuqiang refused, he would do so with a more resolute, tough attitude. After all, that was the tough-guy image he had always projected in public and on camera before the Apocalypse Rules.
But the Liu Yuqiang before him now gave Guan Tong a stronger sense of despair. Despair for the world, and for himself.
This display of despair, however, made Guan Tong feel he might have a chance to get something out of him.
He didn’t make a move. Instead, he said slowly, "I know you came from a poor background, Boss Liu. You built Jule Technology from scratch. You were considered a legend in the business world."
Liu Yuqiang’s story was public knowledge. The government used to frequently hold him up as a rags-to-riches role model for young people, telling them to learn from him.
Guan Tong even remembered his school organizing an event where his whole class watched one of Liu Yuqiang’s motivational speeches to learn about his spirit of diligence, perseverance, and hard work.
"...What are you trying to say?" Liu Yuqiang said.
"I’m saying, after you made your fortune, did you lose all sympathy for the poor, Boss Liu?" Guan Tong said. "In the lowest level of this base, nearly two thousand people are being held captive. Judging by their situation, they’re not even being treated as human anymore. They’re just a resource."
"Can a kid from a poor family like you really be at peace with something like this? Don’t those imprisoned people remind you of the injustices you and your parents suffered when you were poor? Or does money really have that much power, enough to change a person’s nature so completely?"
"Enough!" Liu Yuqiang snapped. "What do you know about my life?"
"I don’t know, and I don’t want to. But if you have even a shred of conscience left for the poor, for ordinary people, you should tell me what you know."
Guan Tong released the shadow hand holding him. Liu Yuqiang sat on the floor, silent for a long time.
Perhaps Guan Tong’s words had moved him. After a series of complex emotions flickered across his face, he finally began to speak slowly. "...I’m a member of the Qingmei Association. Before the era of the Apocalypse Rules, the Qingmei Association was a secret business alliance."
"The head of the Qingmei Association is someone we call ’Big Sister.’ She’s a mysterious figure with immense power."
"After the Apocalypse Rules began, Big Sister announced that the Qingmei Association would transform from a business alliance into a mutual survival group. To acquire more resources, she, along with a few other members and possibly others, secretly manipulated violent gangs in various cities to kidnap High Spirit Users."
Guan Tong’s pupils contracted sharply at this.
’So the mastermind behind my and Xu Xiaotian’s kidnapping was this ’Big Sister’ from the Qingmei Association?’
"The kidnapped people are held in this base. They’re used to provide Sublimation Coins and items, and this time, to create custom rules for a select few."
"As for us members, we had to rely on Big Sister and follow her orders to survive in this era of rules. After the government announced it was entering a state of wartime administration, most of us left the cities and moved into the bases."
"Gradually, I realized it too. Having lost our old social connections and resources, people like us weren’t worth much to Big Sister anymore. She shifted her focus to cultivating teams of Ascenders with potential."
Guan Tong asked, "Who exactly is Big Sister? Do you have a name or a photo?"
Liu Yuqiang shook his head. "We don’t know her name. We’ve met her, but we don’t have any photos. Big Sister is an old woman in her seventies, but she’s full of vigor and has a powerful voice."
’In her seventies... To be able to pull all the strings from behind the scenes at that age, her energy must be unimaginable.’
Liu Yuqiang looked up at Guan Tong and said in a low voice, "I don’t know if you’re really that ’Shadow.’ But even if you are, opposing Big Sister is an extremely dangerous choice. The resources she can mobilize are beyond your imagination. Even if you destroy this base, it probably wouldn’t be a major blow to her."
Guan Tong looked at the business tycoon who was once famous for his aggressive style.
"Obeying just because the enemy is strong is the choice of the weak. The strong are those who rise up and fight against injustice and oppression, even if it means they might fail."
"..."
Liu Yuqiang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Yeah... Before I knew it, I also became someone who just silently obeys, heh..."
Suddenly, Liu Yuqiang initiated a face-to-face trade between Ascenders.
He put up his Sublimation Coins and tradable items, and Guan Tong accepted.
"...In this base, Han Ling has always been the sole point of contact with Big Sister. If you want to track Big Sister down, start with her."
With that, Liu Yuqiang got up, walked to the desk, took a pistol from a drawer, and pointed the muzzle at his own temple.
"Shadow, I hope that you, as a true strong one, can walk this path to the end of the forty-nine rules."
BANG!
With a dull thud, Liu Yuqiang collapsed to the ground.
Guan Tong watched in silence. He did not stop Liu Yuqiang from taking his own life.
Suicide—is it the weak escaping their own powerlessness, or the strong defying their fate? Perhaps only the person themselves could ever know.
He walked out of the room and continued to the next door.
...
「Strategy Research Room.」
Gao Liangwei was talking with Dr. Zhang in the office.
Gao Liangwei asked, "Is the operation going smoothly?"
"Very smoothly," Dr. Zhang said. "The members of several squads performed well in their sweep of the wilderness this time, eliminating multiple gangs and Supporter-system organizations. They’ve also secured first place in multiple challenges."
"That Bai Xuewu you’re so optimistic about, how many has she won?" Gao Liangwei asked.
Dr. Zhang looked embarrassed at the question. "Bai Xuewu has secured about twenty so far."
"Twenty?" Gao Liangwei’s brow furrowed instantly. "Why so few? I recall some Ascenders were willing to sell the rights to create their challenges via trade, weren’t they?"
"Yes."
Some Ascenders living in the shelters felt they were too uncompetitive, unable to even beat the people inside their own shelter, so they decided to sell off their challenges.
Of course, the officials were willing to spend some Sublimation Coins to buy them, using them to customize more first-place victories for specific personnel.
Under these circumstances, with the rules now in their middle phase, twenty first-place wins for Bai Xuewu really wasn’t a lot.
"Actually, there’s a reason for that," Dr. Zhang explained. "Because Bai Xuewu is rather introverted and doesn’t like to go out, she doesn’t want to travel to the challenges that are farther away. Besides, I think the main reason is her own resistance to the whole idea."
"Resistance?"
"Yes. She feels like it’s stealing other people’s Psychic Power, and she’s very against doing it."
Gao Liangwei frowned. "We’re not running some kind of forced Supporter system. She should be clear on that point, right?"
"I’ve explained that to her, of course, but that girl’s personality... In short, you can’t force her. Besides, I think twenty first-place wins is plenty. She might get a few more later on."
Gao Liangwei said, displeased, "She’s being so willful. Has she considered that other countries’ Official Teams might have people who can secure fifty, a hundred, or even more first-place wins? If winning more firsts increases the upper limit of one’s Psychic Power, how big will the gap become?"
Dr. Zhang looked helpless, and Gao Liangwei knew he had a point. Just as he’d said, you couldn’t force such things.
"Dragon Soul’s group has secured enough, I assume? All five of them have military backgrounds. Obeying orders is their duty."
"Yes, they are very cooperative. The team leader, Dragon Soul, has already taken over eighty first-place wins. The other members have quite a few as well, and their numbers will continue to increase."
"It’s still not enough. Have them speed up and get more."
After Gao Liangwei finished, he noticed Dr. Zhang hesitating and immediately told him to speak his mind.
"It’s like this," Dr. Zhang said. "After thinking about it carefully these past few days, I feel this rule might have a hidden danger."
"A hidden danger?"
"Director, you must still remember the first rule. The hidden rule was that knocking someone out could get you a [Sober Mint Candy], but those who used the item generally ended up with lower Psychic Power caps than those who didn’t..."
Hearing this, Gao Liangwei immediately understood what Dr. Zhang was implying.
"Are you suggesting that this rule about taking first place from others might have similar repercussions after it ends?"
"Yes. Think about it, Director. In the end, that information about the hidden rule just came from a sale by the admin of the Ascender’s Home website. We don’t know if it’s true, or if there are any negative consequences later on. We can only wait for the rule to end to verify it."
"So I feel we can’t bet everything on this... If there really are negative consequences, it could cause huge problems."
"You have a point," Gao Liangwei mused for a moment. "We can’t put all our eggs in one basket. Let Dragon Soul’s team continue to secure more first-place wins. As for Bai Xuewu, since she’s so resistant, we won’t force her to get more."
"That’s what I was thinking, too," said Dr. Zhang.
Just as he finished speaking, a series of urgent knocks came from the door.
"Come in."
"Director!" a young reporting officer rushed in. "Our intelligence department just received a message. A large-scale Sponsor Organization with a suspected two thousand victims has been discovered!"
"What? Two thousand people!"
Dr. Zhang shot up from his seat in shock, and Gao Liangwei’s expression darkened.
’What kind of wilderness organization could control two thousand people?’
"Yes. And more importantly, that wilderness organization is located within the Yongzhou Mountain Range Group."
"The Yongzhou Mountain Range Group." Gao Liangwei couldn’t stay seated either. He stood up, his gaze exceptionally sharp. "That’s just over a hundred kilometers from Capital Yong’an. For such a large-scale Sponsor Organization to exist so close to the Capital, it’s utter lawlessness... Dr. Zhang!"
"Yes, Director."
"Have Squad One assemble at the designated location immediately. I’ll dispatch a five-hundred-man armed unit to support them. They will proceed to the organization’s stronghold by air transport at once."
"Yes, sir. I’ll contact Dragon Soul right away."
After Dr. Zhang and the reporting officer left, Gao Liangwei hadn’t even sat back down when the landline on his desk began to ring.
He stared at the ringing phone, his gaze profound, and let it ring more than a dozen times before picking it up.
"The organization discovered in the Yongzhou Mountain Range will be handled by another agency," a voice said over the phone, leaving no room for argument.
Gao Liangwei said, "Unfortunately, I’ve already dispatched a combat team."
"Then have them pull back."
"I’m afraid I can’t do that. They’re already on the plane!"
